• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.383-398
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• 2022

The electrochemical behavior was investigated during the electrolysis of nickel oxide in LiCl-Li₂O salt mixture at 650℃ by changing several components. The focus of this work is to improve anode design and shroud design to increase current densities. The tested components were ceramic anode shroud porosity, porosity size, anode geometry, anode material, and metallic porous anode shroud. The goal of these experiments was to optimize and improve the reduction process. The highest contributors to higher current densities were anode shroud porosity and anode geometry.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.121-129
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• 2015

The platinum anode for the electrolytic reduction process is generally surrounded by a nonporous ceramic shroud with an open bottom to offer a path for $O_2$ gas produced on the anode surface and prevent the corrosion of the electrolytic reducer. However, the $O^{2-}$ ions generated from the cathode are transported only in a limited fashion through the open bottom of the anode shroud because the nonporous shroud hinders the transport of the $O^{2-}$ ions to the anode surface, which leads to a decrease in the current density and an increase in the operation time of the process. In the present study, we demonstrate the electrolytic reduction of 1 kg-uranium oxide ($UO_2$) using the porous shroud to investigate its long-term stability. The $UO_2$ with the size of 1~4mm and the density of $10.30{\sim}10.41g/cm^3$ was used for the cathode. The platinum and 5-layer STS mesh were used for the anode and its shroud, respectively. After the termination of the electrolytic reduction run in 1.5 wt.% $Li_2O-LiCl$ molten salt, it was revealed that the U metal was successfully converted from the $UO_2$ and the anode and its shroud were used without any significant damage.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.73-73
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• 2017

Pyroprocessing at KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) consists of pretreatment, electroreduction, electrorefining and electrowinning. SFR (Sodium Fast Reactor) fuel is prepared from the electrowinning process which is composed of LCC (Liquid Cadmium Process) and Cd distillation et al. LCC is an electrochemical process to obtain actinides from spent fuel. In order to recover actinides inert anodes such as carbon material are used, where chlorine gas ($Cl_2$) evolves on the surface of the carbon material. And, stainless steel (SUS) crucible should be installed in large-scale electrowinning system. Therefore, the effect of chlorine on the SUS material needs to be studied. LiCl-KCl-$UCl_3$-$NdCl_3$-$CeCl_3$-$LaCl_3$-$YCl_3$ salt was contained in 2 kinds of electrolytic crucible having an inner diameter of 5cm, made of an insulated alumina and an SUS, respectively. And, three kinds of electrodes such as cathode, anode, reference were used for the electrochemical experiments. Both solid tungsten (W) and LCC were used as cathodes. Cd of 45 g as the cathode material was contained in alumina crucibles for the deposition experiments, where the crucible has an inner diameter of 3 cm. Glassy carbon rod with the diameter of 0.3 cm was employed as an anode, where shroud was not used for the anode. A pyrex tube containing LiCl-KCl-1mol% AgCl and silver (Ag) wire having a diameter of 0.1cm was used as a reference electrode. Electrodeposition experiments were conducted at $500^{\circ}C$ at the current densities of $50{\sim}100mA/cm^2$. In conclusion, Fe ions were produced in the salt during the electrodeposition by the reaction of chlorine evolved from the anode and Fe of the SUS crucible and thereby LCC system using SUS crucible showed very low current efficiencies compared with the system using the insulated alumina crucible. Anode shroud needs to be installed around the glassy carbon not to influence surrounding SUS material.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.279-288
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• 2014

Nuclear energy is expected to meet the growing energy demand while avoiding CO2 emission. However, the problem of accumulating spent fuel from current nuclear power plants which is mainly composed of uranium oxides should be addressed. One of the most practical solutions is to reduce the spent oxide fuel and recycle it. Next-generation fuel cycles demand innovative features such as a reduction of the environmental load, improved safety, efficient recycling of resources, and feasible economics. Pyroprocessing based on molten salt electrolysis is one of the key technologies for reducing the amount of spent nuclear fuel and destroying toxic waste products, such as the long-life fission products. The oxide reduction process based on the electrochemical reduction in a LiCl-$Li_2O$ electrolyte has been developed for the volume reduction of PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) spent fuels and for providing metal feeds for the electrorefining process. To speed up the electrochemical reduction process, the influences of the feed form for the cathode and the type of anode shroud on the reduction rate were investigated.